How ICFAI managed to block CFA

MUMBAI: The Indian upstart has managed to displace the American major. No, we are not talking about Infosys buying out Microsoft, but the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) getting the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute to leave India.

The CFA institute was founded way back in 1947 in the US. Inspired by the success of the programme, a few IIM, Bangalore, professors,  set up ICFAI and started offering the CFA degree in India. This degree did not have any connection with the CFA institute, though it did use the same name.

The CFA filed a case against ICFAI in 1997. In August, 2006, the Delhi high court gave a decision asking ICFAI to drop CFA from its name by May, 2007. ICFAI stopped offering the CFA course a few years ago and replaced it with an MS-Finance degree.  In March, 2007, almost two months before the May, 2007, deadline, ICFAI filed a case in the Guwahati high court, claiming that the CFA institute was running an unapproved technical programme. On directions from the court, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) asked the CFA institute to cease operation in India with immediate effect. The premise was that any foreign university/institution imparting technical institution in India has to have clearance from AICTE.

“A writ petition has been filed whereby the CFA institute has requested the Supreme Court to at least allow the institute to conduct an exam scheduled for June 3, 2007,” says a source close to the develo ment.

“The ICFAI itself does not have an AICTE accreditation for most of its technical programmes.  This is a clear attempt by ICFAI to protect its business interests more than anything else,” says a CFA who was unwilling to named. In fact, a whole lot of ICFAI- run institutes are on the list of unapproved institutions running technical programmes without AICTE approval”.

This list is available on www.aicte.ernet.in. The list includes a few engineering colleges and business schools run by ICFAI.

“ICFAI has been offering the CFA programme since 1985, which was recognised by AICTE in 1990. Other programmes are offered by ICFAI University, which don’t require recognition from AICTE, but from UGC. ICFAI university is recognised by UGC already,” says S K Sharma, director, ICFAI Business School. ICFAI has managed to get a university status in the states of Uttarakhand, Tripura, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Jharkhand under respective legislations. The University Grants Commission though has recognised only the ICFAI University at Dehradun (Uttarakhand) and at Agartala (Tripura) in the list of universities maintained by the University Grants Commission under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956.

“AICTE has been taking similar action against Indian institutions as well. Why is the issue being hyped when a foreign institution is involved? Are the laws of the land different for different institutions?” asks Sharma.

“Some of the best business schools in the country do not have an AICTE accreditation. Most of the business schools of Symbiosis Society in Pune did not have an AICTE accreditation till some time back and that did not stop industry from recruiting from there. The Indian School of Business in Hyderabad does not have an AICTE accreditation. Now that does not mean that they do not have a quality course in place,” says the CFA mentioned above.

“Most of the original founders have left ICFAI by now, disillusioned by the way it is being run, having essentially been converted into money-making machine. Some time back, Besant Raj, who was the founder chairman and chancellor of one of the universities established by ICFAI, also quit,” says a source close to ICFAI. The institute, since its inception, has largely been run by the low profile Yasaswy, who is a member of the board of governors of ICFAI.